For anyone that is interested, and might have missed these posts, a new member (ThatsATastyPizza) Alexia, posted that his family runs a restaurant for over 45 years at the NJ shore. Alexia said they serve Trenton syle tomato pie with a cheddar cheese base and sauce in a bulls-eye patter on top of the cheese. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,16718.0.html

I couldnít resist asking Alexia if he would share what kind or brand of cheese they used, since I have been on this cheese hunt for a long while. Alexia said the cheese they use is from US Foods and is an extra sharp white cheddar. He also said it is US Foods brand so it is not available in stores. He said to try the Cracker Barrel extra sharp white or Cabot for a good approximation. If anyone wants to try and purchase some of the house brand of extra sharp white cheddar from US food it would be good to know if that cheese works to be able to make a Mackís pizza. Eventually I will try to contact US Foods about their house brand of extra sharp cheddar. In the meantime, maybe someone wants to try out the extra sharp Cabot or Cracker Barrel extra sharp white and see how that works out if someone wants to try an attempt on a Mackís pizza.

There is this place I go to eat pizza sometimes called Mama's Brick Oven Pizza. It is in South Pasadena which might be about 7 miles from me. Anyway they are a NY Style pizza place. When I went a couple of weeks ago they had a pizza that looked like a Mack's boardwalk pizza with the swirl sauce pattern. I never saw it there before. I did not have it because I had the "Manhattan" which is a meat lovers type of pizza. Next time I go there I will ask them about the swirl. Now I am wondering if they read this forum and got the idea from this discussion. Remember this is Southern California, and it's unlikely they know anything about a Boardwalk pizza unless they went there on vacation and tried it. Wonder if this discussion prompted them to make this pizza because I never saw it before. Don't think I even saw it on the menu.

There is this place I go to eat pizza sometimes called Mama's Brick Oven Pizza. It is in South Pasadena which might be about 7 miles from me. Anyway they are a NY Style pizza place. When I went a couple of weeks ago they had a pizza that looked like a Mack's boardwalk pizza with the swirl sauce pattern. I never saw it there before. I did not have it because I had the "Manhattan" which is a meat lovers type of pizza. Next time I go there I will ask them about the swirl. Now I am wondering if they read this forum and got the idea from this discussion. Remember this is Southern California, and it's unlikely they know anything about a Boardwalk pizza unless they went there on vacation and tried it. Wonder if this discussion prompted them to make this pizza because I never saw it before. Don't think I even saw it on the menu.

I called US Foods in New Jersey this morning to see if I could find out more about their house brand of extra sharp white cheddar. The man that I talked to told me they donít retail their products. I said I didnít want to buy retail and I owned a pizza business. He asked me where I was located and I said in the Lancaster County, Pa. area. He said for them to be able to let me buy their products I would need a 2,000.00 minimum order. I asked the man if I would be coming by their business sometime if I could pick-up a block of their house brand of extra sharp white cheddar. He said they donít normally allow that. I said I would call again if I am ever in their area to see if it was possible for me to try their extra sharp white cheddar house brand.

Hi Norma!Wow - your latest attempt sure looks a lot like Manco's pizza! I'd just love to try making it at home. I saw the formulation using the KABF on your blog, but I didn't see mixing times or whether you did a cold rise or room temp? Did you post the instructions somewhere? Are you prefermenting? If I don't use starter, I often end up with "yeasty" taking crust.

Hi Norma!Wow - your latest attempt sure looks a lot like Manco's pizza! I'd just love to try making it at home. I saw the formulation using the KABF on your blog, but I didn't see mixing times or whether you did a cold rise or room temp? Did you post the instructions somewhere? Are you prefermenting? If I don't use starter, I often end up with "yeasty" taking crust.

Thanks a bunch, Marie

Marie,

I have been using high-gluten flour to make the attempted Mackís clone. I usually use Kyrol flour, but you can see in Peterís formula how he used KABF and VWG to make a higher protein mix.

The dough formulas I have been using donít use a preferment. They are usually cold fermented for 2 days. I mix in my Kitchen Aid mixer. I now add the oil to the water, then add the rest of the ingredients than mix awhile. You can see Peter used a food processor also, and his pizza turned out well too.

I donít think the formula I used gave a yeasty tasting crust, but if someone else that has tried my formula for my attempts and think so, I donít mind if they post that.

The dough formulas I have been using donít use a preferment. They are usually cold fermented for 2 days. I mix in my Kitchen Aid mixer. I now add the oil to the water, then add the rest of the ingredients than mix awhile. You can see Peter used a food processor also, and his pizza turned out well too.

I donít think the formula I used gave a yeasty tasting crust, but if someone else that has tried my formula for my attempts and think so, I donít mind if they post that.

Best of luck! I don't know if you saw where I posted about the extra sharp cheedar Alexia told me to try, but if you didn't see that post, he said to try extra sharp Cabot cheddar or extra sharp Cracker Barrel cheddar. I haven't tried them yet.

I have been using sharp or extra sharp (white) cheddar both in a blend and alone. It works better as a blend, alone it bleeds entirely too much oil.

Tom,

Thanks for the tip about using sharp and extra sharp (white) as a blend. Some of my pies in this thread were very oily. I don't know if you ever ate a real Mack's pie, but they are also very oily. After the new year, I have to try some more cheddars on some more attempts.

When I was at the supermarket today I saw the Cracker Barrel extra sharp white cheddar on sale. I thought what harm can there be in trying this cheddar, since I have tried so many white cheddars. I received a call from Bill this evening and guess what he said. Bill said he talked to a man in Florida that had been to Mack and Mancos years ago and saw a block of what said Cracker Barrel extra sharp cheddar on the box, sitting on the counter. Bill didnít know I had bought the Cracker Barrel extra sharp white cheddar today, until I told him. Who knows if the Cracker Barrel extra sharp white cheddar is the cheese I am looking for, but it canít harm to give it a try. Probably will be after the New Year that I give it a shot on another Mackís attempt.

Yes, this thread is still alive and well, at least until I or other members find all that goes into making this pizza.

Your attempted boardwalk pizza looks very tasty and delicious! The important part is how did it taste to you? How long did you preheat your oven? Also, do you know what your oven temperature was? If you didnít get the top crust browning you wanted, maybe you could have put the pizza on your top shelf for a little at the end of the bake. Your bottom crust looks perfect. Did you use the Gangi sauce from Bova Foods?

Thanks Norma, The flavors were there, the top of the crust just needed to be more crispy. I made this pizza a while ago and I never posted the results. I probably only preheated the oven for 20 minutes. The temp was most likely between 530* and 540* I really should have taken better notes so I can improve the pizza. I did not use Ganji Pizza sauce from Bova Foods... but I am going there today. Bova Foods prints Pizza Boxes for Mack and Mancos, and supplies them with most of their products. If I get a chance to talk with one of the owners, I'll ask him what sauce, cheese, flour, and spices they buy. That should help out a little.

Thanks Norma, The flavors were there, the top of the crust just needed to be more crispy. I made this pizza a while ago and I never posted the results. I probably only preheated the oven for 20 minutes. The temp was most likely between 530* and 540* I really should have taken better notes so I can improve the pizza. I did not use Ganji Pizza sauce from Bova Foods... but I am going there today. Bova Foods prints Pizza Boxes for Mack and Mancos, and supplies them with most of their products. If I get a chance to talk with one of the owners, I'll ask him what sauce, cheese, flour, and spices they buy. That should help out a little.

PaperBoy,

It is good to hear the flavors were there in your boardwalk pie!

I didnít know Bova food prints Pizza boxes for Mack and Mancos and supplies them with most of their products. I was at Bova Foods a few months ago and if I would have know Bova Foods supplies Mack and Mancos I think I would have tried to ask a few questions. Good luck to you in finding out any information you can!

I got nothing. Haha... One of the owners of Bova said he doesn't want to share what they buy, but he said they have their own special blend. No other information on the sauce or which cheeses they blend.

In other news - Mack and Manco's have changed their name to Manco and Manco's Pizza!

I got nothing. Haha... One of the owners of Bova said he doesn't want to share what they buy, but he said they have their own special blend. No other information on the sauce or which cheeses they blend.

In other news - Mack and Manco's have changed their name to Manco and Manco's Pizza!

PaperBoy,

Thanks so much for trying to find out what Mackís or Manco and Mancoís use on their pizzas. At least we already know that Mackís does uses Gangi sauce from other posts on this thread. If I ever get to Bova again, I will have to check out their cheeses. I never thought when I was there to try to see what kind of cheese they might carry other than Grande.